An 87-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for repeatedly abusing a nine-year-old girl in Ofankor, Accra. The Police Headquarters Gender-Based Violence Court handed down the sentence after Yaw Gahornu pleaded guilty to two counts of defilement and one count of unnatural carnal knowledge.
Gahornu was convicted and sentenced on his plea on August 31, 2026. The court imposed 10 years for each count of defilement, to run consecutively. The charge of unnatural carnal knowledge was dismissed. The court noted that Gahornu was a first-time offender who had already spent one month in lawful custody. Still, it said the increasing frequency of the offences justified a sentence intended to deter others.
The victim’s mother, a 42-year-old trader, lives about 40 meters from Gahornu’s wooden structure in Ofankor. The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Opoku Aniagyei, detailed how Gahornu lured the girl into having sex with him through both vaginal and anal intercourse between July and August 31.
On August 29 around 3:40 pm, the mother returned from work and found blood stains on the girl’s pants. When questioned, the child revealed that Gahornu had been sexually abusing her whenever she went out to play. The prosecution said Gahornu threatened to kill the girl if she told her mother.
On August 31, at about 4 pm, Gahornu was caught in the act by his granddaughter, who reported the incident to her uncle and then to the victim’s mother. Police were notified, and a medical form was issued for the child’s examination.
The victim was found to be in stable condition but suffered from lower abdominal pain, painful urination, and faecal incontinence due to the anal and vaginal abuse, according to the police report.
The court’s decision reflects an effort to impose a harsh sentence given the repeated nature of the offences, despite Gahornu’s age and first-time status. The case has drawn attention to ongoing challenges in protecting children in neighbourhoods where victims and offenders live close to each other.
According to Joy Online.
